


Better (with you)

by eotteokeos



Category: Wanna One (Band)
Genre: Fluff, Hybrid AU, M/M, nielwink: ss
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-29
Updated: 2018-08-29
Packaged: 2019-07-04 03:26:53
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,187
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15832812
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eotteokeos/pseuds/eotteokeos
Summary: Daniel finds solace in being alone. In working through the wee hours of the day and putting out a perfect performance on his job. He'd like to think he was perfectly fine with everything--friends, family, work.And then he meets Jihoon.Jihoon with his twitchy ears and crooked tail and clumsy hands.





	Better (with you)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [starsurge](https://archiveofourown.org/users/starsurge/gifts).



> Hi, Marie~ ✧
> 
> I'd like to apologize first for my lack of cat language understanding but i do hope you enjoy the twitchy ears and tail that i've come up with--or lack thereof.
> 
> **Prompt: Cat Hybrid! Jihoon**
> 
> Enjoy, fructose fetus ♥

Daniel finds solace in being alone. In working through the wee hours of the day and putting out a perfect performance on his job. That was one of the reasons why he hadn’t settled down, satisfied with 3 hours of pleasure and the feeling of being free and doing things his own pace. Sure, there were times where he’d lie in bed at night, hoping someone was with him to eat ice cream as he re-watches an old sappy film he’d watch for the nth time. But that only happens when he wasn’t working.

 

And he was _always_ working.

 

He values work and usually, no amount of distraction from Seongwu nor Minhyun could stop him from sifting through the cases he had to finish and file even if they were at each other’s throat—literally and figuratively.

 

But these days… These days, concentrating on his work was a luxury and drinking a cup of coffee was blessing. “Jihoon, I told you to ask me for staples.” He says, holding in the groan that was forming in his throat. “I  _know_ , I forgot.” Jihoon mumbles, picking up the few papers scattered on the floor, distracting Daniel’s train of thought yet again.

 

Picking up the papers was nothing. Tripping on flat ground is also cute.

 

What was distracting Daniel was Jihoon’s pants.

 

His _too_ tight pants.

 

Too tight that Daniel could practically see the shape and curvature of the base of the tail inside his pants.

 

Jihoon had been working for Daniel for close to two weeks now, his first day unexpected as he sees him in his office, twitchy ears and crooked tail tucked behind him as he tells him he was his new assistant, a news even to Daniel himself because he didn’t know he needed one nor he was hiring for one. Turns out it was the work of his best friends, Seongwu and Minhyun, in hopes to lessen his workload and the stress and pressure he’d put upon himself—not that it helped him at this point.

 

It wasn’t like he couldn’t refuse him though. Firing him on the first day was not a problem, Daniel did it before. It was just that when Daniel read his application form—surprised and impressed at his educational background—and looked into his expectant eyes, he knew he wasn’t going to.

 

Sure, he was rendered speechless at his stats but his eyes definitely sealed the deal.

 

Besides that, Jihoon was good at his work, sorting through the files needed to be sorted, no need for proofreading on most things—Daniel checked twice in a row and is pleasantly surprised at how concise his work was, and no problem keeping up with Daniel’s hectic schedules. He made a lot of friends too, two times faster than he’d made when he first came here and is even adored by everyone, specially the person who gives Daniel papers to work on, Jisung.

 

Everything was all smooth and sailing.

 

_Really._

 

Daniel noticed the tripping on flat ground, papers often on the floor rather than on his table, and coffee spilled in half before it reaches his table the first two days since he started. It was cute at first, still is, his ears twitching in shame, tail loosely tucked behind him, and face flushing. It really was cute and Daniel—despite needing no distraction because Jisung was handing too many papers and what the fuck were Seongwu and Minhyun doing anyway—found it amusing.

 

Until Jaehwan, the bastard of a friend, came in one afternoon. Bag in one hand and the other with an obnoxiously, angry red coat hanging on his arm. “Wow, you’re pretty cute.” He says, slinging an arm around Jihoon, flicking his raven ears, and the latter scrunching his brows at him, “I know.” He answers, almost hissing, ears flat against his head and tail curled around his body. “Doesn’t mean you can touch me though.” He gives him a tense smile before turning on his heel, bowing at him and Daniel before closing the door with a loud thud.

 

Jaehwan had turned to look at Daniel, raising an eyebrow, amused and a little offended. Daniel was already used to Jihoon’s snarky little mouth, Seongwu always the subject of his remarks, so instead, he shrugs and watches as Jaehwan shakes his head in amusement. “And feisty too.” He mutters, settling down on the couch.

 

“Anyway,” Daniel changes the subject, “What do you want?”

 

Jaehwan rolls his eyes at him, scowl on his lips, and a curse on the tip of his tongue. “I thought I’d drop by instead of waiting for you to come to us.” He takes out a card from his pocket, dented at the side and designs falling off, Daniel cringing at the sight of black and pink frilly designs and glitter falling on his clean carpet. “Daehwi and Jinyoung are celebrating their birthdays. Sungwoon says you’re coming.”

 

Daehwi and Jinyoung were Jaehwan’s nephew, adored and spoiled by the latter to no end. Daniel was there when Jaehwan cried because of them, Daniel was also there when the two demons had played a prank too far resulting in a broken bone and smashed car. Sometimes, he wonders how Sungwoon, his cousin, has put up with Jaehwan’s mess. “I’m—“ he starts, stopping when Jaehwan raises a hand at him. “You’re coming. Seongwu told me your eating time’s dramatically increased in the past few days, I’m sure you can come.”

 

Daniel purses his lips and looks at him, Jaehwan not backing down from the stare off, and then sighing. “Fine.” He answers.

 

“And bring Jihoon with you.”

 

“Why?” He scrunches his brows.

 

“So his ass can distract you from thinking of your work.” He shrugs. “wipe the drool on your mouth,” he gestures, “you look like you’re ready to make out with him.”

 

So here was Daniel—conscious since Jaehwan left his office days ago with a smirk on his lips as he teases him about his flushed face—subtly trying to look at Jihoon, bent over and picking the papers up. _Maybe a I really do need a break_ , he thought to himself. Sighing, he shakes his head to rid himself of the thoughts before forcing to look back at his screen. “Damn, kim han and his stupidity.” He mumbles, not noticing his secretary grumbling as he looks at him from the floor.

 

 

 

 

 

Jihoon cringes at the burn of the alcohol, placing his glass down, ears swiveling every now and then and tail swinging back and forth, “Man,” his friend says, “I can’t believe you’re working for Daniel.” He nudges Jihoon, shaking his head at his friend’s stupidity and loyalty.

 

Jihoon scowls a little, “He isn’t that bad.” Donghan snorts, implying the many excuses he has told his friends when they ask him to go out and have fun. “I’m surprised you even have the time to be here today, you’ve been saying no to a lot of things.” He gives him a look that Jihoon blatantly ignores, pursing his lips and rolling his eyes before clinking their glasses. Maybe downing another would lessen the need to pull at Donghan’s wagging tail. “What can I do? It’s _Daniel_.” He emphasizes. “You know how whipped I am for him.”

 

“Oh, honey, _I do_.” He snickers. “You rejected Woojin’s company, remember?” Of course, he does. Woojin is his best friend since childhood, the latter working for one of the best company in town as Jihoon helps the family business—an export company mostly handled by his brother. It wasn’t until working for a few months that Jihoon finally wanted to venture on his own—find his own path, he told his dad.

 

Woojin was the first one to recommend him to his supervisor, accepting him the minute he looked over his stats (“Who could refuse someone who graduated from only the best?” Woojin snorts) but then fate decided to let him stumble upon a job hiring at Daniel’s company for a secretary. Of course, he’d rejected Woojin’s offer, went to Daniel’s company the next day, confident he’d get hired.

 

And he did.

 

“I can’t believe you still like him after all this time.” Donghan shakes his head, “Since when was it again?”

 

Jihoon sighs. His usually stoic front, gone, along with his soberness, replaced by a whiny high schooler with a teenage unfulfilled crush. “Since he made that speech.”

 

Jihoon wasn’t even sure how it happened. There he was, paper and bag grasped tightly, mouth parted as Daniel walks over the stage to deliver his speech. He remembers him talking about protecting Hybrid rights, about something Jihoon wasn’t even sure because he wasn’t listening. And he remembers the toothy grin he gave when the principal had joked about something, eyes crinkled in crescents and laugh contagious. Truthfully, it was embarrassing how he fell too fast, sprinting over to his friends’ house after an embarrassing encounter and gushing at how perfect Daniel looked with his slick, black hair and his too, low voice.

 

It was _too_ embarrassing that Jihoon would sometimes regret telling them what happened. But then, what was done, was done. Donghan was just an ass who kept reminding him at how unfruitful his love was—and also because he saw the whole fiasco take play. Thankfully, Woojin and Samuel had piped down when they’d deemed his case impossible to save.

 

“Well,” Donghan offers an encouraging pat on Jihoon’s shoulder, “At least you work with him now. Who knows, you might have a chance with him.” Jihoon waves a hand, dismissing the thought. “I was already bending to get those damn papers, ass up an all and he was still looking at his damn computer.” He scowls, remembering what happened three days ago.

 

Jihoon thought his clumsy hands could have helped him with the pitiful situation he was in, bending his ass a little like Jaehwan had told him—he’d approached him that day and told him his ass was an amazing distraction for Daniel—and even so much as wear tight pants at work.

 

But then, two weeks in and Daniel had not only been sighing whenever he trips, he also looked exhausted just talking with him.

 

“Man, if he could just turn and look at me for a second maybe I wouldn’t be this stressed.” He downs another shot, Donghan shooting him a look, laughing. “Hey, you’re _Jihoon_.” He reminds him.

 

Right. _Jihoon_.

 

Jihoon who gets whatever he wants until Daniel stumbled in his life with his too enthusiastic speech about hybrids and cats and his toothy grin and turning him into a pile mush.

 

Jihoon who was ears over tails for Daniel.

 

 

 

 

Daniel stretches his limbs as he looks at the clock, 2 hours past clocking out, office definitely deserted.

 

He rolls his shoulders and waits for his pc to turn off, looking at the files he’d finished for the day and smiling in content. Times like these were the ones he valued the most. A lot of people criticized him for his love of being in control, love of working. But what they didn’t understand was that Daniel was happy with what he does. He’s happy when he’s given work, happier when he finishes it. This work was something he was passionate about and it was never a bore to him even after all these years.

 

Pushing himself up his swivel chair, he notices something moving at the corner of his eyes, “What…” he mumbles, walking towards whatever he saw. Outside of his office, he sees Jihoon’s tail slowly swinging back and forth, the latter typing away on his computer, his face scrunched and his lips jutted out.

 

Pushing the glass door open, Jihoon’s look at him, eyes wide as Daniel’s. “Still here?” he asks, shocked.

 

“Oh,” he smiles, “Hi, sir.”

 

Daniel scrunches his nose at the word, “Told you to call me Daniel.” Walking towards him, he leans on the side of Jihoon’s table, barely sitting on his desk. “Still working?” He asks again, peering on the colorful notes Jihoon had placed on the edges of his screen, the latter looking up at him from this angle, lashes fluttering and corner of the lips upturned. “Just adding details to the files Minhyun sent me before you can look at it.” He sighs, “I’m starting to understand why Minhyun apologized to me on the first day, Seongwu has a lot of details missed.”

 

“The work’s extra hard because of him.” Daniel chuckles, “You should have done that tomorrow though, it’s late.” He gestures at his wristwatch, biting his lips when he realizes how ironic it sounded. Here he was, barely going home, telling Jihoon to go because it was late.

 

And Jihoon seems to find it amusing too, turning to him with a raised brow and giving him a look, “That isn’t exactly convincing specially when I waited for you till 3am before.”

 

“Wait, what?” Daniel’s brow creases. “You did?”

 

“First day.” Jihoon shrugs, “Didn’t know you would stay till 3am until the guard told me you usually sleep here.” Daniel cringes at the information, was that why Minhyun had barged in on him the morning after, yelling at him to value his secretaries more and telling him he was a disgrace to society?

 

Jihoon must have noticed him cringing too because Daniel hears a feint chuckle, his ears facing forward, eyes dancing with amusement. “Feeling guilty?” He asks, a sly smile on his lips that he’d seen directed at Seongwu one too many times. “A little.” he confesses. Jihoon raises an eyebrow at Daniel who was glancing ever so slightly at his twitchy ears, “I’m so sorry.”

 

“Don’t say sorry, you’re my _boss_.” He emphasizes, shrugging. “Still…” Daniel bites his lips. _Still_ , he may have not wanted a secretary at first but Jihoon was good at his job and he was adorable too.

 

“I _mean_ , you’re my boss, the least you could do is apologize over dinner, right?”

 

 

 

“It was really disgusting.” Daniel scrunches his nose, Jihoon cringing at the image of Minhyun unbuttoning Seongwu’s shirt in the printer room, flushed face and sweaty and definitely not printing. “I think I vomited a little when I saw them.”

 

“So that’s why I heard something when I passed by.” Jihoon makes a face, remembering the day he heard something close to a continuous thumping, ignoring it as he goes about his day. “Are they even allowed to do that in the office?”

 

Daniel snorts, “If Seongwu can skip meetings, he can definitely make out in the printer room.” He finishes in disgust, laughing together as they talk about the stupid things Daniel’s friends had done.

 

When Jihoon had—subtly—invited him earlier he was already expecting for Daniel to tell him the usual line he’d say whenever he gets invited to eat, something along with being busy or being full. What he doesn’t expect however is Daniel telling him sure and waiting for him to pack up, sleeves rolled up and coat thrown over his shoulder, a sight even his imagination couldn’t come up with. A sight definitely worth saving.

 

“I ate a lot.” Daniel says, scrunching his nose. Jihoon tries not to cry at the sight, holding his tail beside him to stop it from excitedly waving back and forth. Daniel did say he had a cat before. “That’s because it’s your first meal.” He rolls his eyes playfully, leaning his head in one hand and trying to muster up the courage he had when he’d invited him. “You really amaze me sometimes.” Daniel raises an eyebrow at him, finds him _really_ adorable when he glances at his ears first before he looks at him in the eye.

 

It wasn’t like Jihoon didn’t notice him staring the first few days.

 

He just refuses to believe that in that workaholic brain of Daniel, with his massive love for working and sorting through things that were due weeks before, he was distracted with him—his tail and ears, rather. He’d finally confirmed it one afternoon, coffee in one hand as he pushes the door, Minhyun smiling at him and Seongwu and Daniel talking about what to do with the break-ins.

 

Minhyun was the one who had pointed it out to him when he settled on the couch after placing Daniel’s cup of coffee on his side of the table, the latter thanking him despite the mess he’d created. “Don’t you feel awkward?” Minhyun asked. He was confused at first before he nudges him to look at Daniel, eyes on his ears before looking at Jihoon, clearing his throat when he’d thought Jihoon noticed.

 

Ever since then, he’d made sure to swing his tail a little more, ears more forward and groomed to perfection. His friends had laugh at him at one point, Woojin throwing a disgusted grunt and Donghan guffawing in amusement but hey, at least he got his attention.

 

“And why is that?” Daniel asks, interested.

 

Jihoon shrugs, “You have everything in the palm of your hands, girls and boys at your mercy, rich, and _hot_.” he emphasizes the last word, thanking whoever God gave him the power to not stutter. “I’m just amazed that you haven’t settled down.” He hopes his curiosity and desperation about his love life wasn’t showing.

 

In the two weeks Jihoon has been working for Daniel, there was one thing that remained constant. Daniel’s overtimes. Jihoon had seen him early in the morning, hair a mess and clothes the same as what he’d seen the day before—definitely no signs of girls or boys visiting him late at night.

 

Daniel raises an eyebrow, the corner of his lips lifting “Settling down?” he asks, “I’m barely older than you, Jihoon.”

 

“You know what I mean.” He rolls his eyes.

 

“That I’m hot?” He teases, finding it amusing that Jihoon’s tail stuttered to a stop with his words before resuming to swinging back and forth.

 

“Totally besides the point but yes,” Jihoon answers, “Hot _and_ growing old.” Jihoon tries to contain the smile forming on his lips when he sees Daniel laughing in satisfaction with his answer.

 

“Well,” He starts, “Guess, I’m just not ready. Relationships are okay and all but I don’t think anyone would appreciate it if I forget about their existence unless I have no work.” He chuckles, remembering the many relationship Jaehwan had pushed him into and the many slaps he’d receive after a week of not responding to their text. “The only person who’d put up with me are my friends and the people who work for me.” He gestures at Jihoon.

 

“Damn,” Jihoon chuckles, smiling when he sees Daniel’s lingering stare at the way he plays with his tail. “Should I feel honored that I’m one of those people?”

 

“You definitely should.” Daniel smiles.

 

 

 

“So…” Woojin begins, pointing at Jihoon with his finger, tail wagging. A rather condescending action for someone who was younger than Jihoon, honestly. “Basically, you’re flirting, right?”

 

Jihoon groans, “I sure hope we are.” He takes the drink from Donghan’s hand, ignoring his glare before he downs it. “I can’t believe we are.” He shakes his head, “He’s been sending me home whenever we go out for dinner and we eat dinner all the fucking time.”

 

“So why don’t you ask him out already?” Samuel says, sipping on the juice they’d ordered for him earlier. “I mean, I’m sure he likes you as well. He looked like he was about to drop kick Guanlin when he kissed your cheeks.”

 

Right, _that_ incident.

 

The incident where Daniel and Jihoon were eating in a restaurant—giving Jihoon anxiety because not only was it his friends’ usual place, it was also the place of regrets and stupidity. And he just knew something would happen the second he heard the chime of the bell and a familiar laugh. Samuel was the first one he saw, waving at Jihoon to notice him, and then Guanlin excitedly ran up to him, kissing him on the cheeks like he usually does, ignoring Daniel and all the people who were looking at the commotion they’d cause.

 

“Uh,” Daniel started, only then does Guanlin notice his presence. “Hi,” the latter chirped. “You’re Daniel, right? The one that Jihoon talks about all the—ow!” Jihoon had to jab him by the ribs and shove him out of the way, excusing himself for a moment and scolding the two of them. The both of them had to say sorry for interrupting, which resulted in them eating on the same table because Daniel was too nice despite the spilled wine on his coat.

 

It was all good, conversation smoothly flowing, until Guanlin realized that whenever he steals Jihoon’s attention, Daniel would huff a little, lips jutted as he stabs his food too harshly.

 

“That was because of the—“

 

“He didn’t even notice the wine spilled on his coat until you pointed it out, he was glaring at guanlin the whole time.” He rolls his eyes, “I know, because I saw him while you were busy feeding him.” He scrunches his nose remembering the incident, “He looked like he was also regretting his decisions mid way.” He snorts.

 

Jihoon doesn’t say anything, looks down and bites the inside of his cheeks. “You can smile all you want, dumbass.” Woojin pokes the tail that was coiling around his leg, “We’ve seen your diary about him, do you think we’d still judge you and your stupid crush?” He chuckles, finally seeing the corners of Jihoon’s lips lifting into a grin, hands covering his flushed face. “God, he looked so adorable.” Jihoon bites his lips, smiling. “Do you really think he was jealous?” he asks.

 

Samuel sighs for the nth time.

 

 

 

 

 

Daniel hears a knock on the door, lifting his face up to see ears before Jihoon’s face comes to attention, a smile on his face. “Lunch?” he asks, tilting his head a little. Jihoon had been doing this for a good while now, knocking on Daniel’s door on the dot, smile on his face, eyes expectant.

 

He looks at the file he’d just opened before looking back at Jihoon’s expectant eyes, closing the folder before pushing himself up. “Your treat?” he asks, ignoring the nagging voice to finish his work. He’ll just have to pull an all-nighter tonight and hope for the best.

 

“Hey,” Jihoon nudges him, “You’re my employer.”

 

Daniel raises an eyebrow at him, “You only ask me for lunch for my treat.”

 

“That, and eating lunch with you is hundred times better.” This time, Daniel was the one who tripped on flat ground.

 

 

 

“You’re totally undressing him with your eye.” Seongwu says as he takes a sip from his coffee, Minhyun and Jaehwan nod in agreement. “Jisung was nudging me during meeting that you were too distracted.” Daniel scowls, not lifting his attention from Kim han’s stupid case against hybrid protection. _Damn him and his stupidity_. “I am not.”

 

Minhyun snorts at his side, “No, you totally are.” He shakes his head, lightly “You unconsciously look at him—well, his ass whenever he drops something on the floor.” Daniel stays mum.

 

“And you were totally harassing him earlier.” Jaehwan pipes up. Daniel final looks up at them, pushes his glasses up and scowls, “I am not looking at his ass and I’m definitely not harassing him.” He snaps. “He had something stuck in his hair.” It fell before Daniel could get it though but it was a safe excuse to run his hand over his blonde hair and maybe, _accidentally_ touch the twitchy black ears he’d been wanting to touch since day one.

 

“Sure, tell that when your tongue’s down his throat.” Jaehwan snorts, “You eat dinner with him Daniel, you don’t even eat dinner with us.” He accuses, reminding him of the many times he’d refused.

 

He did have a point though, ever since that Dinner with Jihoon many nights ago, the two of them would eat out whenever Daniel thinks he could finish the files on the side of his table, walking over to Jihoon’s cubicle at lunch to invite him, the latter smiling at him as he says yes.

 

It was weird and new. He’d gone days before with nothing but ramen, rice forgotten and definitely no breaks in between, eye bags dark, and cheeks a little hollow from the all-nighters he’d had. Yet here he was, enjoying lunch on a weekday, his friends in sight and Jihoon a couple of meters away from them, ordering.

 

He wasn’t entirely stupid, he knew he liked Jihoon more than what was considered a crush. In fact, he knew he liked him the moment he accepted him to be his secretary, a blow on his pride especially when Seongwu and Minhyun were the ones who had hired him.

 

“Okay,” He sighs, relenting, “I may be looking at him far too long but that’s only because he’s adorable.”

 

Seongwu snickers at his side, “Yeah, and you look like you’re about to shove your tongue down his thr—“

 

“Got your order?” Daniel interrupts Seongwu, glaring at him before smiling at Jihoon as the latter places his food on the table. “Yup.” He smiles, pushing a plate of macaroons in front of Daniel. “your favorite, right?” He asks, wiping the stain on the corner of Daniel’s lips. He smiles at the gesture, Jihoon remembering the minor detail he’d said many dinners ago was enough for his heart to soar.

 

Definitely enough for his friends to look at them wide eyed too.

 

“You didn’t have to get it for me, dummy.” Daniel smiles, “But thank you.”

 

“Of course.” Jihoon raises an eyebrow, grinning. “Wouldn’t want you stealing my cookies again, now would I?” He teases, the hidden meaning behind his words making Daniel’s friends look at each other. Daniel rolls his eyes before softly nudging him, eliciting a laugh, all the while ignoring Seongwu choking on his drink and Jaehwan giving him a look.

 

Until, Jihoon’s attention transfers to Minhyun and Jaehwan subtly tries to move his chair next to him, face inches away and far too close to be comfortable. “When the fuck did you two start flirting?” he harshly whispers from his side. “We’re not flirting.” Daniel rolls his eyes, pushing his face away with his hand. “No, you totally are.” Seongwu mouths at him, covering half of his face as he points an accusing finger at Daniel, eyes watching Minhyun and Jihoon talking. “I can feel the fucking tension.”

 

Daniel waves a dismissing hand despite the smile forming on his lips, “We’re not.” He mumbles.

 

But they are.

 

It was subtle at first, Daniel teasing him whenever he gives him the coffee, laughing at the scowl on Jihoon’s face whenever the latter arrives with half empty cup.

 

It was a gradual escalation to a full blown flirting with Jihoon waiting for him to finish his work—comfortable on his couch, playing games on his phone or twirling his tail—and the flirty, borderline inappropriate passes they’d throw at each other had turned into Daniel brushing the hair out of his face or Jihoon wiping something on Daniel’s face.

 

There was also that one time Daniel had _accidentally_ held his hands as they read a case side by side, his hand over Jihoon as the latter continues to tell him about Lee Hyuk’s scandal. He didn’t think Jihoon noticed it at first, how Daniel’s hand was on top of his, their shoulders side by side, so close that Daniel could smell his perfume. Until Jihoon’s tail had coiled around his waist, warm against his dress shirt and comforting amongst the many files they had to go through for the night.

 

Of course, he wasn’t going to say anything to his friends though. Getting caught by Jisung staring at Jihoon’s ass was already embarrassing enough as it is, telling them he forgot about Lee Hyuk’s stupid case because of Jihoon’s warm hand and tail was something they wouldn’t leave down.

 

Specially when they know how much Daniel was strict about separating work life and private life—always yapping at Seongwu and Minhyun’s printer room escapades—yet there he was. Flabbergasted, lost for words, and giddy because Jihoon was adorable trying to ignore his hand despite the obvious red painting his face. Daniel decided to flick his ear then, shocking him and himself because not only was Jihoon adorable he’d also feel him shiver under his touch. Definitely not good for his sanity.

 

Jaehwan turns his eyes into slits, unbelieving. Pursing his lips, he turns to Jihoon with a shit eating grin that Daniel knows all too well, the grin that got him in trouble when he was in college, the grin that resulted with a broken nose and a swollen cheek. “Jihoon,” He starts, slow and sly “Don’t forget about the birthday in two weeks, okay?” Jihoon blinks at him, head tilting in confusion. “Birthday?” he asks.

 

Daniel looks away when Jaehwan glares at him. He was planning on bringing it up to Jihoon many times, but the many stupidities with Jaehwan’s plans had prevented him from doing so. “My nephews are throwing a birthday party at my house,” He takes out an invitation, Jihoon takes it and looks at the frilly designs on the cover, “Costume party?”

 

“Yup.” Jaehwan answers.

 

“Uhh,” he begins, looking at the card before looking at Daniel and then transferring back to Jaehwan. “I don’t… Are you sure I should be going? I mean…” he trails, “we’re not exactly…” Daniel bites his lips to stop himself from laughing at Jihoon cringing at his own words. He found out overtime that despite a snarky brat he was never good with rejecting people. Daniel had to give someone the eye the other day because they were pestering Jihoon to go out and eat lunch with them, of course he had to interrupt and tell them Jihoon was eating with him.

 

“It’s okay.” Daniel interrupts, unconsciously wiping the sauce on Jihoon’s lips before bringing his finger to his own, ignoring Minhyun’s scandalized expression. “Jaehwan invited everyone in the company.”

 

Jihoon looks at the invitation again, unsure. “But…”

 

“Daniel would really love to see you in a very tight—I mean—Daniel would be glad to see you there.” Seongwu coughs out, glaring at Daniel who’d kicked his shin under the table.

 

 

 

“So you’re going to a costume party, right?” Guanlin asks from the couch, fingers tapping on his laptop before turning the screen to Jihoon. “How about this? Slutty cat?” he wiggles an eyebrow. Jihoon throws him the pillow he was holding, Woojin and Donghan following suit. “It’s his friend’s nephew, do you think I wanted to be regarded as attention seeker?” he scowls.

 

“You’re mad about attracting attention but not about the slut part, some priority you have.” Guanlin grumbles, “How about this, then?” he shows him a picture of a model, black thong and a skimpy top, too see-through to even called a shirt. “Can you please keep your fetishes to yourself?” Samuel sighs, shaking his head. “Anyway, you.” He raises an eyebrow at Jihoon. “Are you guys finally going out or what?”

 

Jihoon purses his lips at his words, opening his mouth before closing it back again. “I don’t know.” He confesses, “I mean, he clearly likes me and obviously he knows I like him. But, yeah…” he trails.

 

Daniel was a man of many words, so much stories to tell, so much work to talk about. And Daniel was also someone he never thought would be clingy, hand always held under the table, head on Jihoon’s shoulder as they read whatever was on the folder, confusing him. He hinted on it once, curiosity and frustration getting the better out of him, “Not to be me but, you’re going to make someone jealous if you cling on me too much, you know.” He chuckles, swatting Daniel’s hands away from poking him by the rib.

 

“And that someone is?” he asked, smiling.

 

Jihoon hums, “A lover perhaps?”

 

Daniel chuckles at him before proceeding to gently flicking his ears, “How can you be jealous of yourself.” He says.

 

Raising an eyebrow at his words, “What do you mean?” he asked, confused and hopeful.

 

Daniel shrugs, “What do you think?” Jihoon had pestered him that night, asking him what he meant the whole dinner, finally giving up when he deemed it impossible. Daniel was impossible when he was being a tease.

 

“Maybe you should be more assertive?” Woojin chimes in, “Like you know, tease him or something?” Jihoon crinkles his nose at the idea, “I already told you bending my back to pick up papers didn’t work even when I was already shoving my ass at his way. What else can I do?”

 

“Jump him.”

 

“Slutty cat.”

 

“Confess.”

 

 

 

 

“Daniel?” Jihoon asks, knocking on the door and peeking in. Daniel looks at him from the other side of the room, removing his glasses, and scrunching his eyes shut as he pinches the bridge of his nose. “Hm?” he asks.

 

“Got the papers you told me to look over.” He tells him, walking over and worriedly looking at him “Have you eaten?” he asks, cautiously. It had been a while since Daniel rejected Jihoon’s offer for lunch, needing to finish something first and instead asking him for dinner, like it wasn’t already a norm for them, head buried in files upon files and lunch forgotten.

 

“Thank you.” He smiles, “Had a cookie you gave me earlier.” He takes the file from Jihoon, the latter leaning on Daniel’s table, hands on the edge. If it was any other people who’d done that, Daniel would have held up a fuss. Leaning on his table would make the things on it move, meaning Daniel would have to rearrange it again. But then this was Jihoon. Jihoon and his tiny little messes were cute. “Technically, I didn’t give it to you.” He shrugs.

 

He laughs at his response, too used to it before unconsciously lifting his hand, removing the few strands loosely covering Jihoon’s eyes, blonde hair all over the place, a huge contrast to his raven tail and ears. “Rain check on the dinner?” observing the way Jihoon’s lips slightly pucker up, brows creasing, while leaning in to his touch. “Yeah, no, I think you should rest instead.”

 

This time it was his turn to frown and he doesn’t know if it was the tiredness working or the way Jihoon’s ears turned sideways, lashes fluttering, and lips bitten red but Daniel thinks he looked beautiful tonight too. “Dinner with you _is_ resting.”

 

 

 

 

Jihoon was lounging on the couch in Daniel’s office, already comfortable and used with waiting for Daniel for dinner, hand busy twirling his tail and the other on his phone. It wasn’t until he hears Daniel shuffling things around that he finally looks up, “Finish?” he asks. Daniel smiles at him, “Yup, just a little bit of a problem with the application.”

 

Frowning, he pushes himself up to walk over to Daniel, “Problem?” He asks, peering in on his computer, the latter moves a little for him to get closer. “Yeah, I’ve been trying to save it since earlier but it just keeps on crashing.” Jihoon hums, mind already reeling in with possible outcomes all the while ignoring Daniel’s breath ghosting on his ear.

 

“You need to just copy this and then type in—“ he stops in his sentence when he feels warm hand on his ears. Blinking and blinking again before deciding to ignore it, clearing his throat, “—And then type in the same thing and—can you please stop touching my ears?” he asks, turning back to look at Daniel who was covering half of his face with his hand, trying to contain his laughter before finally spilling out in short intakes, and broken laughs.

 

“You—your tail was all—“ Daniel laughs out, biting his lips to stop himself from laughing too much, Jihoon’s lip jutting out and his ear lay flat against his head. “I don’t know if you know but my ears are pretty sensitive, you know.” He snaps playfully, turning on his heel to lean on Daniel’s table, the sound of the pc turning off along with Daniel’s laugh, comforting. He folds his hand in front of him, looking at Daniel on his swivel chair and scanning his face. His eye bags were dark, but not as dark as the first time he’d seen him and cheeks a little plumper. He looked good, the same as when he’d seen him years back, the same as he’d seen him stutter in surprise months ago, and definitely now.

 

“Oh, really?” Daniel asks, feinting ignorance. “Didn’t know.”

 

Jihoon rolls his eyes at him, “You had a cat, I’m sure you would—“ He stops mid-sentence again as Daniel pets the tail that was loosely coiled around his arm, raising a brow at Jihoon who looked like he wanted the earth to swallow him whole.

 

“So—“

 

“Stop.”

 

“But—“

 

“Don’t say it, Daniel.”

 

“Your tail seems to like it.” Daniel says, chuckling at the way Jihoon covers his face with his hands, ears swiveling and face red. “It’s reflex!” Jihoon groans, “And stop touching it already.” He peaks between his fingers, Daniel still grooming the few hairs that were standing, forcing the shiver down his spine. When his friends told him to be more assertive, he thought coiling his tail at Daniel’s legs or hand was already enough to ignite something but here he was, petting and twirling his tail.

 

“Right,” he starts, “I’ve been meaning to ask this for a while now, you went to paramount, right?” he asks, Jihoon flinches at the name of the school, stupidity and embarrassment flashing before him. “I was thinking you looked familiar but…” he trails, Jihoon looks away from Daniel’s stare. “You were that student who asked for my signature, right?”

 

Jihoon shrugs, wordlessly. _Fuck_. He was thoroughly fucked.

 

“I’m pretty sure you said something about touching your—“ Jihoon’s eyes widen at his words, hurriedly covering his mouth with his hands, brows furrowed and face infinitely more flushed that it had been seconds ago, “First,” he snaps, “I was young and stupid. And second, please don’t say anything more than this or I might just resign and kill myself.” He begs.

 

Jihoon remembers it too clearly. Too clearly that sometimes he cringes to himself whenever he stares at Daniel too long, slapping himself on the face to rid himself of the memory of how he marched up to Daniel after his speech, hands balled up into fist as he tells him to touch him. “I can’t believe you said that in front of everyone.” Daniel chuckles, hands gently and warmly wrapping on his wrist. “The principal was so shocked I think he almost feinted.”

 

He couldn’t believe it too.

 

That he, who had everyone under his mercy, praised for being one of the best, fell at first for someone who didn’t even know his existence _and_ asked him to touch his ears. He blamed Woojin and his stupid love for weird films, who the fuck would actually ask someone to touch their ears on the first meeting?! Not only was it embarrassing how he did not feel ashamed when he said it, it was also embarrassing how Daniel had looked at him shocked, mouth open and eyes wide.

 

It didn’t even dawn on him at how embarrassing he was even when Donghan had smacked him on the head and apologized for his stupidity. “Seriously, please just forget it.” He groans, “Can’t we just eat dinner like we planned? Why are you doing this to me?”

 

Daniel chuckles before finally relenting, standing up. “Fine,” He says, leaning on the table, looking down at Jihoon from the angle he was in, Jihoon on his table and him standing between his thighs. “But stop teasing me, your tail’s been doing that for the past few days now, I’m at my limit here.”

 

 

 

 

“What?” Daniel scowls.

 

“Didn’t say anything.” Jisung replies, mouth pressed together and amusement dancing in his eyes.

 

“You didn’t but you guys have been giving me the eye since earlier.” Daniel gives his friends a dirty look. Jaehwan sipping on his coffee, Seongwu shrugging and Minhyun smirking. “It’s just that…” Jisung trails, Daniel sighs. He knew that tone. That tone he used whenever he wanted to squeeze information out of Daniel. That tone he knew he wouldn’t be able to escape until he tells him what he wants to hear. “I gave you a lot of papers to go over—“

 

“You gave me a shit ton of it.”

 

“And you’re still going to Jaehwan’s celebration.” He continues, tone in a teasing, sarcastic way that Daniel knew was going to get him a lecture but also going to push back his plans. Meaning, he would have no choice but to turn his pc off and listen. Specially now since Minhyun was also interested. “Can you please just get to the point already?” he sighs, feeling a headache already coming.

 

When Jaehwan had barged in on his apartment earlier, Seongwu, Minhyun and Jisung in tow, he knew he was going to have to answer some questions. He was actually surprised at how long it took them to finally come over and question him.

 

“Oh, you know, we’re just curious…” Daniel cringes in disgust at the way Minhyun’s tail curls around Seongwu’s shoulder, red and white all over the place and fox ears twitching on his head. “when the flirting’s gonna end—don’t give me that look—I saw you the other day.” He raises an eyebrow at him, reminding him of the incident that happened.

 

Daniel was on his way to a meeting, knocking on Jihoon’s table as the latter looks at him. “Wish me luck.” He grins. Jihoon rolls his eyes at him before standing up, hands lifting to fix his crooked tie, “You don’t need luck. You pulled an all-nighter again, right?” Daniel shrugs, “Too obvious?”

 

Jihoon nods, “Your eye bags are darker than my ears and tail.” He pats him on the shoulder, Daniel laughing at the analogy, leaning his body against the frame of Jihoon’s table, face inches apart. “Tail and ears, huh.” He teases, Jihoon turns his eyes into slits, not backing down, his tail slowly swinging back and forth. “What about it?”

 

“You know—“

 

A cough.

 

The pair turned their heads to the side, Minhyun looking at them amused and scandalized at the same time, before he shows him the folder. “meeting?” Daniel rolls his eyes, knowing Minhyun did it on purpose. Shaking his head, he scowls at the latter before nodding, turning to look at Jihoon who was smiling at him. _Brat_.

 

 

“Fine,” Sighing, he finally relents, Jaehwan moving to him closer with expectant eyes. “I like him.”

 

“And?” Jisung starts.

 

“And he probably likes me too.”

 

“Not probably,” Seongwu snorts, “He likes you too.”

 

“And I was kind of already thinking of asking him out.”

 

“And—wait, you are?” Jaehwan scrunches his brows. “you are?” he repeats, almost not believe what he said.

 

Daniel couldn’t blame him; he was surprised too. He liked Jihoon, but he didn’t think he liked him enough to actually be the one to do something about their lingering touches. He wasn’t exactly the type to make the first moves, always getting in a relationship forced on him by his friends and always the one who is confessed to.

 

“Yeah.” Daniel nods, biting his lips, uneasy.

 

Noticing his nervousness, Jisung nudges him on the side, grinning at him. “Scared?” he asks. Daniel nods, he was.

 

Jihoon was everything that was opposite to him, snarky, playful, and a whole lot of clumsy. He was everything opposite of him and yet being with him somehow completes his day, waiting for Jihoon to trip and accidentally stepping on his tail was always a sight to behold, smiling to himself whenever he notices Jihoon checking to see if Daniel saw what happened.

 

It was scary, really, how Jihoon made him a bumbling mess, untouched files increasing on his side table, and wanting to stay with him a little more every after dinner. It was scary how fast he fell.

 

Scary that he liked himself better when he was with Jihoon. Scary what might happen if he left him.

 

“Kind of scared if he breaks up with me, I don’t think I can go back to drinking a whole cup of coffee.” He mumbles, eliciting a snort from Jaehwan. “Honey, you aren’t even sure if he’d accept you.”

 

Daniel cranes his neck to look at him, “Accepting me is already a given, dumbass.”

 

 

 

 

“Like it?” Samuel, asks, giving him a once over before nodding to himself in satisfaction.

 

“I look like a slut, is what it is.” Jihoon scowls at his reflection on the mirror. “But this will do.”

 

Woojin snorts at him from his bed, attention half on him and his game. “If you consider _that_ slutty, you haven’t seen what I ordered.” Jihoon turns to look at him, face scrunched in disgust. “Can you guys please stop forcing your fetishes down my throat?” he shivers at the image of straps and leather boots.

 

“You’re going there alone, right?” Guanlin pipes up.

 

“Daniel offered to pick me up but I kind of wanted to surprise him with…” he trails, bell clinking against his neck. “with this, I guess. Of course, you guys will be driving me there.”

 

“Of course, we will.” Donghan smirks, “Wouldn’t miss you strutting that ass.”

 

 

 

Daniel looks at his phone, checking to see if there were any messages from Jihoon and biting his lips when he sees nothing, settling for checking his mails. “Really?” Jaehwan says from his side, “You’re really checking mails at this time?” he gestures at the crowd already gathering, sounds echoing against the four walls down to the nearby open pool where a lot of people were also swimming in, alcohol being passed around and food all over the place.

 

“I was just looking if Jihoon was here.” He rolls his eyes, “Seriously, I don’t even know if he knows this place, he’s bad at directions.” He sighs, remembering the one time he’d ask Jihoon out for dinner one late weekend, resulting in looking for him because he typed the wrong direction and he was stranded in the middle of an old, abandoned theater and a love hotel.

 

“Well,” Jaehwan starts, “He’s here, alright.” He gestures at the entrance. “And he knows how to make an entrance.”

 

Daniel sees Jihoon a couple of meters away, head craning side to side looking for something before it settles on Daniel’s, his eyes crinkling in crescents as his tail slowly moving from side to side, an obnoxious red bow at the end and a chocker with the same obnoxious color on his neck, bell clinking against his neck with each step he does towards him. “Uh,” he stutters out. Jaehwan thinks it’s his cue for him to leave, nudging Daniel on the rib to stop him from embarrassing himself further.

 

“You look breathtaking.” He finally says, giving him a once over. In contrast to the red bow at the end of his tail and the infuriatingly red chocker, Jihoon wore a black, leather, skin tight pants that hugged him at the right angles, showing the taut muscle of his thighs and the ass that Daniel’s has been wanting to knead. His shirt, or lack of thereof, was a see-through black fabric, with what appeared to be wings on his back.

 

A demon, his costume was a demon.

 

And personally, Jihoon did his costume justice.

 

Jihoon grins at his reaction, “Figured since you wanted to talk about ears and tails, I’d make it more obvious” he says. Daniel feeling the bow against his palm before letting it slither away. “Hmm,” Daniel hums, “Well, you definitely got my attention.”

 

“Great” he grins.

 

The next thing that happened was expected, Daniel being pushed to the side as teenagers run past them to the pool, bumping against Jihoon’s and the latter groaning at the pain. When their eyes meet, the laughter that came after was natural, face flushed both from what had happened and the obvious tension that could have escalated not even a minute since Jihoon entered.

 

Wiping the imaginary tear on his eyes, Daniel smiles fondly as he watches Jihoon stop himself from giggling. Leather body suit aside, Jihoon was adorable and detectibly irresistible. “Jihoon—“ he starts before getting interrupted.

 

“Daniel!” Seongwu calls from the other side of the room, “Stop flirting and help me with the two demons!” Scowling at him, he turns to look at Jihoon who grins and nod, “I’ll be by the food area.” He pats his back before turning on his heel, knowing full well Daniel was looking at him as he walked away.

 

Daniel furrows his brows, sighing before turning to look at Seongwu, flipping him off. They tell them to man up and yet they also interrupt them, God damn.

 

 

 

Jihoon bites his finger as he looks at the numerous treats on the table, taking a candied strawberry as his ears swivel to the music. “Liking everything?” Someone asks from beside him, flinching in surprise at the voice.

 

“You almost made me drop my food.” He crinkles his nose at Minhyun who chuckles at his reaction. Minhyun was dressed as joker, hair sprayed in green along with his ears and tail, violet coat hanging loosely on his body, and a green velvet dress shirt with too much chest area to see. Jihoon should have known he’d dress as this when he saw the parted blue and pink hair Seongwu had.

 

Minhyun chuckles, giving him a once over before whistling, “Aren’t you a stunner?” he winks.

 

Jihoon rolls his eyes at him, laughing along with him. He says hi to some of the people passing by, workers from different apartment, some of the clients they’ve dealt with—was that Jaehwan making out with a red head—before Minhyun starts, taking an alcohol from one of the help who passed by.

 

“Thank you.” Jihoon smiles, taking sip of it, conscious of the way Minhyun was staring. “I know you want to say something, so please just say it.” He juts his lips out, eliciting a laugh. “I already feel like I’m attracting too much attention because of my outfit, having you at my side is making me squirm.”

 

Minhyun rolls his eyes at his words before, clinking their glasses. “Just wanted to say that Daniel likes you.” Jihoon looks at him gesturing towards the other side of the room, Daniel waving at them, smile on his lips and red faced. “A lot.” Jihoon waves back at him before he shoos him away, Seongwu pulling him by the ear as the two celebrants complain about something. “I know.” He answers, “And I like him too, a whole lot more than you can imagine.”

 

Minhyun smiles, “I know.” He pats Jihoon by the back, all the while watching as Seongwu and Daniel walk over them, the scowls on their faces disappearing as they get nearer. “He’s a great guy. A litte—no, too much love for work but he means good.”

 

“Having fun without me?” Daniel smiles, snaking his hands to his waist, some of the workers looking at them in question.

 

Daniel and his little to no escapades wasn’t exactly unknown to everyone. Everyone knew he loved working more than anyone else, everyone too afraid to give him his finished output—afraid that they’d be the next one to get fired.

 

Seeing Daniel grinning at Jihoon, knees bent to whisper something on his ear was weird. A good weird.

 

“The party hasn’t even started and you’re already drunk?” Daniel asks, raising an eyebrow at him. Jihoon rolls his eyes, downing the last bit of alcohol left on his glass. “My skin’s naturally flushed like this.” He starts, “And what can I do when a hot man has been whispering cringey things since earlier?”

 

“You’re talking about me and not Minhyun, right?” Daniel teases.

 

Jihoon snickers wordlessly, taking him by the hand and excusing them from Seongwu and Minhyun, walking over the veranda at the very corner of the room. “So much kids, I was starting to get dizzy.” He mutters, leaning on the pillar and watching others throw themselves over the pool.

 

“You haven’t met Jaehwan’s devils.” Daniel mutters, “He spoils them so much, you’d think they’re eight rather than seventeen.”

 

Jihoon cringes, remembering the incident that happened two days back, sitting on Daniel’s swivel chair as he looks at the screen, Daniel on his side, crouching down to point at something Jihoon has long been forgotten was about as he twirls Daniel’s tie with his finger. “Your tail’s already distracting me enough,” he gestures at the tail wrapped around his waist, “Are you really going to distract me with your fingers too?” he groans.

 

Before Jihoon could say something, the sound of Daniel’s phone interrupts them, sighing as he takes out his phone and scoffing the second he sees who it was. “What do you—Jinyoung?—No— _Fine_.” He sighs, rubbing at his forehead. Daniel had told him, Jinyoung and Daehwi asked for a too expensive birthday presents.

 

“Hmm,” Jihoon hums, taking a breather as he leans on the railing, looking at Daniel. The slow breeze blowing the hair out of Daniel’s face, revealing the smile he’d fell for years back. He knew there was something more behind the stoic face and glasses but he didn’t think it would affect him this much, make him miss him whenever he doesn’t see him, ignite the passion that he didn’t even know he had.

 

Besides his affection for the man, Daniel made him value the things his parents had pushed him to do, the sweat they’ve done in their lives to be accepted in a society where someone like him—someone like a hybrid like him—was looked down upon on was an eye opener for Jihoon who was just starting to see the world in something more than the knowledge that had been fed to him.

 

Daniel talked about how special they were, his eyes lighting up in fascination and respect. Telling Jihoon how they were breathtaking—how Jihoon was breathtaking. It was also one of the many reasons why Daniel applied for the job he has in the first place—A hybrid protection firm that Seongwu’s father had started and flourished.

 

Truthfully, Jihoon wasn’t always bothered by his ears and tail. Hybrids weren’t exactly a rarity in today’s time. Apparently present long before Jihoon’s grandparents were even around, starting in small cases of ‘deformed’ humans to it becoming a global crisis as to what was happening and finally to accepting that humans weren’t the only superior being. It was just that, the stares during college had get to him, whispers whenever his classmates think his friends and him were gone, books suddenly missing, and torn notebooks.

 

He _hated_ the way he looked.

 

Until, Daniel with his determined eyes and booming voice peeked his attention one afternoon in college, talking about their rights like he was part of them—no, he was. They were.

 

Daniel with his stern look when he saw him again weeks ago. Daniel with his toothy grin. Daniel with his whiny voice. And Daniel himself. There were so much things that he liked about Daniel even before the whole flirting fiasco that had happened, the little praises he did when Jihoon would submit papers that weren’t due till next week, the candies he’d leave on Jihoon’s table, the tiny notes he’d stick, reminding him to take a break.

 

So much more.

 

“I love you.” He finally says, the thumping in his chest getting louder, faster as Daniel turns to him, eyes wide and surprised. “I love you.” He repeats, clearer this time and Jihoon felt good, felt the weight on his heart decreasing. There was something about ‘like’ that bothered him, saying it felt like there was something odd, something _missing_ and finally he knows.

 

He loves Daniel, loves him so much that he’s scared because this was all too fast.

 

But then when he looks at the growing smile on Daniel’s face, his ears turning red as he covers his hand with his face, he knew saying it was the right thing. “You can’t do that.” Daniel mumbles through his fingers, brows furrowed as he takes something out from his pockets. “I even made a speech about how much I love you, how can you just—“

 

Before Daniel could say anything more, Jihoon pulls him by the arm, eyes fluttering down to his lips before looking up at startled orbs and finally.

 

_Finally_ , their lips collide.

 

Their bodies molded onto each other, lips crashing and skin electrified. Daniel’s lips were warm and soft, just like how imagined them to be, breathtaking and so much more than Jihoon can describe. Daniel takes a tentative lick, responding in a stifled groan. His tremulous breathing against Daniel’s face, tickling the latter when he pulls inches away, forehead against each other as he looks at Jihoon’s eyes and flushed cheeks. “God,” Daniel says, breathless as Jihoon, “I’ve always wanted to do that.”

 

He places a peck on his lips once more, soft kisses turn to hungry ones, arms slithering on his waist and hands kneading his rare, not caring if there were people a couple of meters away from them, the curtain concealing them. A chuckle blooms in his throat as Jihoon shudders when he’d circle his hands around the base of his tale. “Fuck, you’re killing me.”

 

Jihoon smiles up at him, hands running over his disheveled hair before placing kisses on the corner of his lips. “Me too.”

 

 

“Uh,” Someone says behind them, startling them in shock as they whip their heads towards the voice. “You guys are cute and all but do you really have to do it here?” he asks. Jihoon figures it was the person Jaehwan was locking lips earlier, red hair and fairy wings.

 

“Sungwoon,” Daniel sighs, “Did you really have to interrupt now?”

 

He raises a brow at Daniel, a scowl forming on the edge of his lips before it transfers to Jihoon. “Jaehwan told me the person you like was too beautiful and I see what’s he talking about.” He smiles at Jihoon, “Do you really want my idiot cousin for a lover?” he crinkles his nose at his own words, like saying Daniel’s name was a plague.

 

Jihoon looks at Daniel, the latter rubbing at his forehead, exhausted. “Yup.” He answers, not removing his gaze from Daniel. “Can’t have him rotting in his cell again.”

 

Sungwoon laughs at this before turning on his heel and craning his neck to look at them once more, “Well, if you change your mind, Jaehwan and I adore you.” He winks, laughing at the scandalized expression on Daniel as he waves goodbye.

 

“Damn,” Daniel mutters, snaking his hand to Jihoon’s, feeling his tail on his waist just like it always had been. “Can we leave this place?”

 

”Thought you’d never ask.” Jihoon grins.

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Hey,” Jihoon calls out, “I’m not really saying you should give me more attention but I’d really like it if you turn around.” Daniel sighs and turns. Not because he wanted to see what he was up to—maybe he does—but to end the impending argument that would start if he doesn’t. Jihoon was already giving him a chance to finish his work in three hours’ top, ignoring him was stupid even for his workaholic brain.

 

“Ye—“ He stops. Blinks. Scrunches his face up and scowls. “What are you wearing?”

 

Jihoon grins, his tail moving from side to side, the same obnoxious bow tied on the end of his tail, this time an alarming, neon pink. He transfers his attention to the paw that Jihoon was using, plush and striking against his honey colored skin, handcuff swinging in one wrist. “I look good, don’t I?”

 

He does. Daniel was starting to get a headache. “You do,” he answers, “But what…” he trails, at a loss of words at the way Jihoon sways his hips as he walks towards him.

 

“We didn’t really get to enjoy the red bow last time.” He says, crinkling his nose, remembering Jaehwan stopping them from going anywhere and his demons for a nephew decided that they should stay over. “Had to wait for this,” he wiggles the paws around, “to arrive.”

 

“What about—“

 

“You can’t possibly be thinking I’d let you work when you left me hanging for two days, right?” He smiles at Daniel, sly and coy. Daniel remembers this look. It was the same look his cats do, ears alert and tail crooked. The same look he fell for on the first day, the same look he’d give up his files for to shower him kisses. “Of course.” He finally says, Jihoon’s tail on his hand as he places a kiss on its tip.

 

 

 

Daniel was great when his life revolved around work and money rolling in.

 

But it was better when he met Jihoon.

 

Jihoon with his whiny voice and sharp tongue, Jihoon and his crooked tail and clumsy hands.


End file.
